Pile of Vinyl: August 1996

Los Gatos Locos
Juvenile Delinquent EP
IFA Records

These greasers think that SLUG Magazine will review a psychobilly record? They must have missed the last year. Four songs are included on the little black platter. Psychobilly is not rockabilly. As a rule the singer can’t sing, the boys are obsessed with horror, sex, girls, blood and everyone wears the same uniform. The Crazy Cats are juvenile delinquent gang members, they do indeed like orgies of blood and they drive a muscle car. Country and western plays a larger role than R&B in the overall impression. Horror cow-punk provides a backdrop of noise for a slam dance pit swing dancing boys. 

Trick Babys!
“Born 2b This Way” / “Your Phones Off The Hook (But You’re Not)” / “Bad 4 Ya”
Farellete Records 

A girl group with at least one boy on bass, playing garage punk and paying tribute to X by way of the Ramones. Another retreat to ‘77. An impressive slice of white vinyl by a band in-touch with what is up. What is up doesn’t include anything recorded after 1981. Thank you. 

The Andromeda Strain
“Stained Glass” / “Elephant Man” – 6”
Doyle Records 

Why use a big hole when it spins at 33 ⅓ rpm? A modern day version of post-punk containing a few psychedelic touches and nods to the garage. Due to the band name I was expecting more sci-fi than it contains. Only at the end of songs obsessed with lies do they insert a few tape loops. Good noise and shredding vocals. 

The Krinkles
“Evil Waterbed” / “Fun”
Super 800 

The record is not punk at all. A band of college educated nerds release two songs of power pop for an unknown reason. Sordid Las Vegas is the first topic, fun with video games the second. Watch for a CD, probably on Pravda, later on. 

Cornpone
“Descarga De La Crema Batidga” 

Beaten cream discharge or is it creamy batter discharge? A Texas hardcore band releases a yellow record packaged inside a sick cover. The band has five guys and one girl. If that one girl is pictured front and backside the boys are vergas de perro. Four songs of mind wasting noise created by Waco natives. The Waco mention sums it up. 

The Bluetones
“Are You Blue Or Are You Blind” / “String Along”
Superior Quality Recordings 

Okay, you’re dead. What is it with these British groups anyway. Bah, ba, bap, bah, ba, bap. The record is solidly built, the most sturdy sleeve and record of the stack. So why does the fucker skip? The Bluetones have a CD ready for release in the states. They have already been proclaimed “next big thing.” Their CD has about three good songs out of 11. This single has one good song out of two. I can take “String Along” in spite of the twee, ooooooh background vocals. The surest way to tell a British band at present is their irritating use of nonsense syllables. Give it up please. 

Reem
“Blues From Venus” / “Medication”
Vagrant Records 

The A-side is R&B as the Chili Peppers do it except better. The flip side is better. The blues are traditional; the subject is not. The medication is highly addictive antidepressants. Is the addiction worse than the disease? 

Varnaline
“Dance Like We Used To” / “Sneer Society”
Zero Hour 

The record is nearly as produced as the Bluetones. The music is considerably better. Much as expected Varnaline rely heavily on guitar feedback and noise. The first song is guitar pop; the second is unplugged lo-fi of the Neil Young, folk-rock variety. Both are good. 

The Multiple Cat
“The New Marcus Aurelius” / “Red Volvo DL Wagon”
Zero Hour 

Guess what? More guitar rock and the vocalist is irritating as hell. Girls help out with the harmonies. Both songs take enough twists and turns through the few minutes they last to thrill any lover of the indie sound. So distressing that they are enjoyable. I believe that is the attraction of this stuff. 

Purple Ivy Shadows
“Feeble” / “Sustance”
Zero Hour 

This band gets a drone thing going with the guitars and vocals. Fairly psychedelic for a short pop song. Imagine one of the nerd corp singing, “you can be a good athlete and hurt yourself” over more melodic drone. I can almost imagine the song going over on the coffee house circuit in 1963. My God! Folk-rock predating the hippie craze. Zero Hour has a similar catalog of similar music available. Every single thing I’ve ever heard from the label has been good. 

Lotus Crown
Alvar Aalto E.P.
Throwrug Records 

How come they made a big record with only four songs and it spins at 33? Gee whiz, I don’t think they are using Strats or Teles. If they are effects, pedals are in use. Full on psychedelic music and if these fuckers launch into a bah, bah, bah or pah, pah, pah I’m chucking this record in the street. The Alvar side is quite pretty and mellow, but not yellow. Turn the waste of scarce resources over (Fidelity is better at 45, if it has to be big and short at least make it audiophile.) to find more quiet guitar experiments complete with vocals. Lotus crown doesn’t pretend at all. Throw the tune in the middle of a mix at the next rave. Things will stop mid-step and the ecstasy will kick in full blast. 

Down By Law
All Scratched Up!
Epitaph 

The vinyl version of a CD that came out some time ago. Don’t ask me which six songs aren’t on the CD or the cassette version. I don’t have either, but I do have the records and there are six more songs. A single CD is turned into a double record. I’m listening attentively to the music while attempting to discover what distinguishes Down By Law from a thousand others. “Hell song” kicks some serious butt. I fell out of my chair remembering the Who and the Jam. One thing about vinyl – you have to crank it – the format requires going past at least 7 on the volume knob. Flipping the first record over I found salvation. Side one almost impressed. After who know how many hundreds of punk rock records I can still find enjoyment in the grooves now and again. “Gruesome Gary” is trademark sing-a-long, “Radio Ragga” has the ska element and I’m waiting for Down By Law to kick out some surf licks. Ska, surf, mod and garage make for good punk rock. Ask the Offspring. They completely gain my love when they close the first record with, “you fucking hippie, die, die.” Can’t say that I disagree. 

—Riley Puckett 

Read more from the SLUG Archives:
Concert Previews: August 1996
The Stiff Sheet: August 1996

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